Everything you need to know before Tampa Bay’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

When: Friday, October 11th – 7pm ET
Where: Lenovo Center – Raleigh, NC
TV coverage: ESPN+/Hulu
Radio reporting: 102.5MHz-FM, Lightning Radio 24/7

Lines from training on Thursday (subject to change)
Forward
Jake Guentzel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Nick Paul
Mitchell Chaffee – Luke Glendening – Zemgus Girgensons
Conor Sheary – Conor Geekie – Cam Atkinson

defender
Victor Hedman – JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg – Nick Perbix

goalkeeper
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson

matchup on Friday
The Tampa Bay Lightning will open the 2024-25 NHL season this Friday with an Eastern Conference game against the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m. The contest will also be the first game of the season for Carolina, which scored 111 league points last season – the second most of any Eastern Conference team (New York Rangers 114). Tampa Bay is scheduled to host the Hurricanes this Saturday, October 12th before the three-game regular season series ends with a game at Lenovo Center on March 11th. The Lightning hold a record of 71-52-21 in 144 games against the Hurricanes. Tampa Bay scored a total of 429 goals against Carolina, making Florida (453 goals) the only NHL team that gave up more offense to the Bolts. Nikita Kucherov went 2-5-7 in two games against Carolina last year, including a 6-point night on November 24th. He leads active Lightning players in career points (35) against the Canes. Victor Hedman (30) and Brayden Point (28) were also successful. The Bolts finished last season’s three-game series against the Hurricanes with a 2-1 record.

The way into the future
Tuesday, October 15th vs. Vancouver Canucks
Thursday, October 17th vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Saturday, October 19th at the Ottawa Senators